Arriva bus strike called off after eleventh-hour settlement is agreed

The strike by Arriva drivers due to start on Sunday is off following an eleventh hour settlement between management and the Unite union.

Bus services in Teesside Durham, North Yorkshire, and Cleveland,areas will now continue to run as normal while the threat of further disruption to services has been eliminated as a result of the agreement reached by the two parties.

Arriva and the Unite trade union hammered out a new deal earlier this week and this was then put to drivers in workplace ballots yesterday and today.

Arriva’s offer was accepted by the majority of drivers, bringing an immediate end to the industrial action.

Nigel Featham, the bus company's managing director for the region, said “In the end, everybody emerged with a positive result. Our passengers won’t have their travel plans inconvenienced any longer, we’ve backed our drivers with a firm financial commitment and we return our focus to the daily operation of the business."

The new deal will see a reduction in the time, from five years to three years, it takes Arriva Durham area drivers to reach a new top pay rate of £10.60 an hour.

In addition, there are hourly rate hikes for drivers with fewer than three years’ service, with all increases being backdated to March 2018.